Absolute 80s Becomes a National Station and Absolute Radio 90’s Launches

14May

Today we have two key announcements – Absolute 80s is set to become a national station and we are also launching a brand new radio station  – please welcome: Absolute Radio 90’s!

Due to the huge early success and popularity of Absolute 80s with this week’s RAJAR figures, showing that the station already has 264,000 listeners, we’ve decided to take the station national on DAB (Digital One), from 10am 14th May. It will also continue to stream nationwide online, on Sky, Freeview, Freesat and its many other mobile platforms.

As the name may suggest, Absolute Radio 90’s the new station will be dedicated to music from the 90’s with a playlist that stretches from Oasis, Blur Texas, Lenny Kravitz, Beautiful South, Sheryl Crow and KLF. We’re all old enough to remember it the first time round (some more so than others!) and we believe that there’s a real niche in the market to roll out a format which has worked so well for us with Absolute 80s with the Absolute Radio 90’s proposition. Absolute Radio 90’s will launch on DAB in London in late June.

The expansion of Absolute 80s and the launch of Absolute Radio 90’s mark important moves for the business providing significant added commercial opportunities for brand partners and increasing the network’s portfolio of brands – we are now the only group to have two national services on Digital One. This is yet another strong indication of the commitment of our parent company, Times of India to building the Absolute Radio brand.

Categories: Absolute Radio Brands Music rajar 10

Posted by jonny on May 14, 2010

The Absolute Radio Brand Increases Its Reach By 149,000 And Its Total Hours by 1.5m In Todays RAJAR

13May

  • Absolute Radio Network has posted its highest ever total hours since launch up 12.1% quarter on quarter and 5.6% year on year and an increase in reach of 149,000 listeners quarter on quarter
  • Absolute 80s has posted a significant 264,000 adult reach and 1.4m hours in its first ever RAJAR
  •  Digital listening across all radio has risen sharply to 24% from 20.9% last quarter. Absolute Radio’s national listening via a digital platform also continues to grow and is now at 55%

Absolute Radio Network (Absolute Radio, Absolute 80s & Absolute Classic Rock) has posted its highest ever total hours in today’s RAJAR results up 12.1% quarter on quarter and 5.6% year on year. Absolute Radio Network has also posted a significant 8.9% increase in reach (149,000) quarter on quarter and a dip of just 3% year on year.

The network’s digital stations have posted substantial increases. Absolute 80s has delivered a reach of 264,000 and 1.4m hours in its first RAJAR proving the niche in the market for this music station. Absolute Classic Rock is also up 17.5% in reach and 30.1% in hours quarter on quarter.

Absolute Radio’s reach remains steady in total hours (-2%) and has dropped by 6.5% quarter on quarter, which, given the growth of the network, is well within our forecasts.

Digital innovation remains core to the brand’s business and Absolute Radio continues to pioneer the radio industry in digital listening. 55% of the station’s national listening is now done via a digital platform with the industry average of 24% for all radio. Absolute Radio remains the only radio group to have hit the 50% national digital listening penetration target set out in the new Digital Economy Bill.

“As recognised at this week’s Sony Radio Academy Awards, Absolute Radio Network is a strong brand with its growth in both reach & hours now reflected in RAJAR” Said Clive Dickens, Chief Operating Officer, Absolute Radio, “Football is a huge new area of growth for us this summer with Baddiel & Skinner’s World Cup Podcasts and the exclusive broadcast rights to the Saturday 3pm Premier League games.  Together with our continued focus on comedy and live music, this provides new, exciting and engaging content for our ‘reluctant adult’ audience.”

This week, Absolute Radio has become the only UK commercial radio station to publish its on-demand hours as part of its engagement metrics – a new measurement system of accurate data from internet devices. This is the first time a UK radio station has made this information public and the data will now be released monthly to provide greater accountability for commercial partners.

In April, the Absolute Radio Network (Absolute Radio, Absolute 80s, Absolute Classic Rock and dabbl) serviced a total of 744,000 on-demand hours via IP connected devices. This on-demand figure consists of all audio and video content available online through downloaded podcasts, audio clips, live sessions and videos both on www.absoluteradio.co.uk and third party sites.

On-demand hours represent a huge growth area for the brand opening content up to a far wider online audience. The content has also become an attractive commercial proposition for the station’s advertisers and this new measure of engagement allows the station to give greater insight into how listeners hear its output via the internet providing further accountability for customers and stakeholders.

In total, The Absolute Radio Network serviced 7.22million hours of compelling online content in April (including live online streamed hours, live mobile streamed hours and on-demand)

Source:  RAJAR / Ipsos – MORI / RSMB, period ending December 2009, all stations and groups results are reported on their specified reporting period and TSA.

Categories: Uncategorized 0

Posted by jonny on May 13, 2010

Absolute Radio Releases On-Demand Hours by Clive Dickens

12May

Absolute Radio is now publicly releasing its on-demand hours as part of its engagement metrics – we are the first commercial station to release this data, providing greater accountability for our commercial partners.

In April, the Absolute Radio Network (Absolute Radio, Absolute 80s, Absolute Classic Rock and dabbl) serviced a total of 744,000 on-demand hours via IP connected devices. This on-demand figure consists of all audio and video content available online through downloaded podcasts, audio clips, live sessions and videos both on www.absoluteradio.co.uk and third party sites.

On-demand hours represent a huge growth area for our brand opening content up to a far wider online audience. The content has also become an attractive commercial proposition for our advertisers and this new measure of engagement allows us to give greater insight into how listeners hear our output via the internet providing further accountability for our customers and stakeholders.

In April, a record 1,806,000 podcasts were downloaded in the month – up a massive 37% from the previous record of 1,141,000 set in March. We estimate* these podcast downloads equate to 475,679 hours of audio podcasts and 16,573 hours of video podcasts (492,252 in total). The network continues to add to its content channels with The Baddiel & Skinner Absolute Radio podcasts from South Africa with Sony Ericsson launching in May.

713,000 Absolute Radio mobile smartphone applications have now been downloaded across all platforms (16% up from March), with 215,000 live listening hours streamed via mobile apps in April. The Absolute Radio Network streamed 6.5 million hours of live audio in April.

So what does this all mean? It means that in total, The Absolute Radio Network serviced 7.22 million hours of compelling online content in April (including live online streamed hours, live mobile streamed hours and on-demand) – no mean feat!

Monthly figures for the network are available here.

* estimated: to make an approximate calculation or assessment of something

-          Clive Dickens

Categories: Uncategorized 1

Posted by jonny on May 12, 2010

Playlist: 12th May

12May

The playlist is out now.

Green Day – When It’s Time (14th June)
New song featured in Green Day’s stage version of ‘American Idiot’, which recently launched on Broadway. Green Day return to the UK in June for some huge shows at Lancashire County Cricket Ground (16th), Wembley Stadium (19th) and Glasgow SECC (21st).

Paul Weller – Find The Torch, Burn The Plans (14th June)
2nd single from acclaimed new album ‘Wake Up The Nation’. Paul Weller plays 5 nights at the Royal Albert Hall at the end of May and the V Festival in August.
You can watch his recent session for Absolute Radio here .

Crowded House – Saturday Sun (21st June)
Great new track from album ‘Intriguer’, also due in June. Whereas 2007’s comeback record ‘Time On Earth’ evolved out of a Neil Finn solo project, ‘Intriguer’ has been written by the full band, making it more of a successor to 1993’s landmark album ‘Together Alone’.

Tiffany Page – On Your Head (24th May)
Debut single from new singer songwriter based in London, who joins Courtney Love’s band Hole on their current tour.

Vampire Weekend move up to daytime with their latest track ‘Holiday’.

Categories: Music playlist 0

Posted by carrie on May 12, 2010

Absolute Radio Takes Home 6 Sony Radio Awards

11May

 

Clear some space on the mantelpiece because Absolute Radio has won 2 golds, 1 silver and 3 bronze at this years Sony Radio Awards and we are positively bursting with pride.

Who’s Calling Christian took gold in the Best Competition category following its phenomenal success on the Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show and Geoff Lloyd’s Absolute Blur documentary with TBI Media won gold for Best Live Event Coverage.

Newcomer Frank Skinner scooped silver in the Best Entertainment Programme for his Saturday morning breakfast show while Christian O’Connell took bronze for Music Radio Personality of the Year and there were yet more gongs for One Last Dream with Guitar Hero (Best Use of Branded Content) and Best Station Imaging.

Widely recognised as the UK’s most prestigious radio accolades, the Sony Awards are judged by over 100 industry professionals and Absolute Radio’s success in 2009 and 2010 demonstrates our belief in personality DJs, our desire to give listeners the best live event coverage and our determination to always be at the forefront of creativity and innovation.

It’s also worth remembering that we were nominated for 12 awards in total which is the most in one year for any commercial radio station in the entire 28 year history of the Sony Awards – not bad for a station yet to reach it’s 2nd birthday!

A big well done to all the team at One Golden Square.

Next up, the Arqivas!

Categories: Absolute Radio Absolute Radio Live Events who's calling christian 2

Posted by jonny on May 11, 2010